Holding A Heartbeat
by watermelonie
Summary: Inwhich Jimmy0010 is a really popular kid and Charlie is his really quiet crush. A story insues. A Cereal Time fanfiction, highschool au. Jimmy0010/Charlieissocoollike Jimmy Hill/Charlie McDonnell fanfiction. Feel free to add this to the Cereal Time tumblr tag, as I want this to get out there!
1. Chapter 1

Jimmy loved school. No, he wasn't a huge nerd who got good grades, but he was popular. Popular as in, he has always been the center of attention his whole life, popular as in, he has a lot of friends, popular as in, he's really attractive. Jimmy was popular.

The curly haired boy hated living up to the stereotype, but school was pretty fun when he knew that he didn't have to experience the troubles that unpopular people would have to go through. Don't get him wrong though, he wasn't a snooty, bratty, kid due to his popularity, Jimmy tried to make sure that he was kind. He made sure that that was apart of his charm, trying to speak and be kind to everyone.

Jimmy had a special interest in one specific person though, and his name was Charlie McDonnell. Charlie was a beautiful, brown haired boy covered in beauty spots, but he was annoyingly quiet. Jimmy had the pleasure to see him in almost every class, and he even got to sit next to him in one of them. He made sure that he took advantage of this everyday, talking to Charlie mindlessly, though he never really responded.

So it was Monday again, and this was always something that Jimmy had to look forward to, talking to Charlie. When seventh period finally came around, Jimmy came to class pretty early, but Charlie was already there before him, along with the teacher who sat going over lesson plans. Jim held back a goofy smile and sat down casually, like he did most things.

As soon as the teacher started talking, Jimmy hopped right in. "Hey Charliedog, how was the weekend?" Charliedog. He had no idea where that came from, but it came out confidently, like he had been planning it his whole life.

Charlie looked over at him, and then he looked away, taking his book from underneath his chair and opening it. Jimmy melodramatically took offense to that, the fact that Charlie would ignore him like he always did. He wouldn't stop there though, oh no he wouldn't. Jim scooted his desk closer to Charlie's, leaning over to see the book. He moved close enough to where he could see the words on the page. With no hesitation, he read the book out loud.

Charlie instantaneously closed the book, and Jimmy wasn't gonna lie, he looked a little mad. But still, Jimmy wasn't going to lose his bravado, he easily snatched the book from Charlie's hand, looking at the cover.

"Eleanor & Park, huh? This what you reading this week? Yknow, I really really like this shade of blue, it's like, really nice. I'm thinking of painting my room this color. Right now it's just like, this like, plain wh-"

"Look," Charlie started, interrupting Jimmy in a hushed, angry whisper, like a mother would do to their child in public after they've done something bad. "I like you, you're really attractive, but you're also really annoying and talkative and you never fucking shut up, but I like you." After that, the book was roughly taken out of Jimmy's hands.

Jimmy was shocked silent, he had genuinely never heard Charlie speak to him before. He got out of his chair, whooping and hollering and oh my god, he got Charlie to speak to someone who wasn't his close friend. This celebration was a short one though, as he finally caught his teacher's eye, who was expressing the exact opposite of joy.

"Charlie, James, to the the principal's office." Jimmy's heard his teacher's voice boom with it's authority, but all he could think about was how he addressed him as James instead of Jimmy.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie hated it when he did this, but as soon as he heard the teacher say his name in a negative tone, his whole body flushed. Actually, no, Charlie didn't feel bad that he reacted this way, because this has never really happened before. The brown haired boy never really gets in trouble. He was relieved as soon as he walked out of his classmate's views, but he still felt his heart flutter, knowing his destination.

He couldn't forget his companion, though. He heard Jimmy call his name and he turned to face him, knowing he couldn't ignore him in an empty hallway. "You know you're going to wrong way, mate." He heard the humor in Jimmy's face, but he didn't feel it.

"Actually, I don't know. I've never had to walk there before." Charlie started walking with Jimmy, walking side by side, like they would if they were pals, but they weren't.

"Oh c'mon Charliedog, you can't act mad at me after you just admitted that you find me attractive. Plus, wasn't that accelerating? Trust me, it's cool that you got in trouble."

"It's not though. And I'm not going to continue to find you attractive if you keep calling me Charliedog." Charlie responded curtly.

Jimmy smirked, realizing that this was kind of bantering, which is also kind of flirting. "Charliedog is a cute nickname, it matches your personality." The curly haired boy stopped at a water fountain to drink, as they were getting more and more close to their destination.

"I'm more of a cat person really..." Charlie said, waiting impatiently for the boy to continue walking. It wasn't like he was excited to go to the office, but he did want to get whatever he was going to go through over with.

Jimmy opened the door that led to the stairway for Charlie, that led to the first floor. Charlie was beginning to feel uncertain about whether they were heading to the office or not, but he knew Jimmy definitely knew about the office more that Charlie did, as he visited frequently. At the bottom of the stairway was a small corridor leading to the entrance to the first floor, and there was also the door to the parking lot. Jimmy grabbed a hold of Charlie's wrist and pulled him towards the lot door, pushing it open.

Charlie pulled his wrist away, disgusted by the fact that Jimmy even grabbed him. "What do you think you are doing?"

Jimmy looked at him, and then out the door. "I'm opening the door so we can leave."

Charlie hated how he said it like it was obvious, because it wasn't so obvious to Charlie. "Well, I-no. I'm not going with you."

Jimmy looked at him incredulously for the second time that day. "Are you kidding?! Charlie, there's probably less than an hour of school left, we can go!"

"What about when Mr. Biggs finds out that we didn't go to the office?"

"He won't, I've probably done this four times before."

An angry silence fell between the two. Charlie spoke up, "Just take me to the office Jimmy. You can leave if you want, but at least tell me where it is."

Jimmy shook his head, suddenly feeling incredibly childish. "No, that wouldn't be fair." With that, he let go of the door and took a hold of Charlie's hand, hearing the door shut behind them.

It was a short lived moment for Charlie, as Jimmy had let go of his hand as soon as he opened the door to the first floor, but it was something. It was the gentlest thing that he had ever felt, Jimmy's hands were soft, and it was like holding his heart, like holding his heartbeat.

Jimmy ended up with a detention, but Charlie came out with no punishment at all, just a stern warning.

"Wasn't that bad, was it?" Jimmy asked, bumping shoulders with Charlie as they walked to their next class.

"I guess not, it was better than sitting in class, but we should've gotten the same punishment."

Jimmy smiled and shook his head. "I disagree. Charlie McDonnell in detention? Could you imagine?" He laughed at the thought, which earned a small smile from Charlie. And that was all he needed.


End file.
